13) Lebron James isn’t one of the three finalists for NBA’s MVP; they should change the name of the award to Player of the Year, because no one is as valuable to their team as James is to the Cavaliers. He is so consistently great he gets taken for granted.

12) Atlanta Braves acquired 1B Matt Adams from St Louis for a minor leaguer; they need a bat with Freddie Freeman out for the next 2-3 months.

11) Baseball oddity; in Jason deGrom’s last two starts, he had the same home plate umpire, Phil Cuzzi, who switched crews this week, for some reason. Very rare for the same umpire to work two starts in a row by the same pitcher.

10) Cloud Computing ($28.80) won the Preakness, only the 4th time in the last 34 years the Preakness winner was a horse that didn’t run in the Kentucky Derby.

9) White Sox are apparently close to signing 19-year old outfielder Luis Robert, who is thought to be the best unsigned Cuban prospect right now. The young man defected from Cuba and is Haiti these days— he is going to be really, really rich pretty soon.

8) Best wishes to Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, who recently had an 8th operation on his right eye, after he detached a retina last year. Zimmer missed one game and coached another while wearing an eye patch.

7) Texas Rangers quietly won ten games in a row; while they’re still 6.5 games behind Houston in the AL West, if the playoffs started now, Texas would be one of the Wild Card teams.

6) When he went to the NBA Combine 10 years ago, Kevin Durant couldn’t lift 185 pounds, which isn’t good but hasn’t seemed to hamper his career much. Now Durant advises prospects to skip the combine. At some point in all of this scouting over-analysis, the primary question has to be: “Can he play?”, not “Is he is a candidate to win a gold medal in the clean-and-jerk?”

5) Astros’ pitching ace Dallas Keuchel is on the 10-day DL with a pinched nerve in his neck. The new 10-day DL allows teams to simply skip a pitcher’s turn if he has a minor injury, which this one supposedly is.

4) Pointspreads on Cavaliers (-14.5) and Warriors (-13.5) this weekend are the biggest in any NBA conference final game since 2005.

3) Before the Nationals-Braves game Saturday, after the national anthem on what was Military Appreciation Day, Bryce Harper posed for pictures with service members for several minutes. Pretty cool to see; the media is so quick to point out bad things about people. Nice to see the good things these guys do.

2) Oklahoma City Thunder’s Enes Kanter is from Turkey; he was traveling in Europe this weekend, but because of his political beliefs (I have no idea what they are), his passport was voided by the Turkish government. With no “valid” passport, Kanter was not allowed to enter Romania and was later put on a flight to London, on his way back to this country.

NBA has thought about putting some teams in Europe eventually; you wonder if stuff like this will put a kibosh on those ideas. It is a crazy world out there.

1) Think about this week in Washington, when Kurdish protestors were getting beat up by the Turkish president’s bodyguards out in the open on the street; Turkey must be a really fun place to live. We are lucky to live in this country; it isn’t perfect here, but it is a hell of a lot better than most places.

Remember the 3 G's Gambling, Golf, Girls not in any particular order.....

The Atlanta Dream are striving to build an identity early in the season, one based on ball movement and balance.

That identity was on display Friday in the Dream's road victory over the Chicago Sky.

The teams meet again Sunday in Atlanta.

Tiffany Hayes led six Atlanta players in double figures with 23 points. Point guard Layshia Clarendon added 18 points and handed out seven of the Dream's 20 assists, and center Elizabeth Williams had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

"A lot our identity I think so far is being shaped from being a balanced team ... and having really balanced scoring across the board," Clarendon told the Dream's website last week. "Our goal is to average 20 assists per game, so I think that's something we can focus on."

Chicago point guard Cappie Pondexter led the Sky with 22 points against the Dream, and backcourt mate Tamera Young added 18 points for Chicago (0-2).

Dolson teams with center Imani Boyette to give Chicago an imposing front line, but knows there will be an adjustment period in terms of finding her role with her new squad.

"I am my own player," Dolson told the Chicago Sun Times. "I've been just saying, 'Do what they need me to do.' They have a good core already. It's just about fitting in and doing what they need me to do."

The Dream also lost their superstar in the offseason, when Angel McCoughtry announced in January that she would sit out for at least part of the 2017 season.

McCoughtry did not rule out returning this season, but said in a letter released by the team that she will not play for an undetermined portion of the season.

McCoughtry's absence hasn't cost the Dream yet. Atlanta has opened the season with back-to-back road wins. The Dream followed up an 81-74 win at Connecticut with Friday's win at Chicago.

The Dream (2-0) shot a sizzling 55.2 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Sky, 37-31. Chicago shot only 39.0 percent from the field.

Atlanta won two of three meetings with the Sky last season.

The Dream was without forward Aneika Henry-Morello in Friday's game. The 6-foot-4 forward is dealing with a left foot injury. Her status for Sunday's game was unknown.

CHICAGO (0 - 2) at ATLANTA (2 - 0) - 5/21/2017, 3:00 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
ATLANTA is 6-3 against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
CHICAGO is 5-4 straight up against ATLANTA over the last 3 seasons
7 of 9 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

WASHINGTON (1 - 1) at SEATTLE (1 - 1) - 5/21/2017, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
WASHINGTON is 295-352 ATS (-92.2 Units) in all games since 1997.
WASHINGTON is 19-36 ATS (-20.6 Units) in road games on Sunday games since 1997.
SEATTLE is 56-35 ATS (+17.5 Units) in home games after a non-conference game since 1997.

Head-to-Head Series History
SEATTLE is 3-2 against the spread versus WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
SEATTLE is 3-2 straight up against WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
3 of 5 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

3:00 PMCHICAGO vs. ATLANTA
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Chicago's last 6 games when playing on the road against Atlanta
Chicago is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Atlanta's last 6 games when playing at home against Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Atlanta's last 8 games when playing Chicago

7:00 PMWASHINGTON vs. SEATTLE
The total has gone OVER in 12 of Washington's last 16 games when playing on the road against Seattle
Washington is 1-11 SU in its last 12 games when playing on the road against Seattle
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Seattle's last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 12 of Seattle's last 16 games when playing at home against Washington

Remember the 3 G's Gambling, Golf, Girls not in any particular order.....

Elena Delle Donne is filling the Washington Mystics' need for an offensive force, averaging 25.5 points through the season's first two games.

Only one player in the WNBA is averaging more points than Delle Donne, the league's 2015 Most Valuable Player acquired by the Mystics during the offseason. That player is Seattle guard Jewell Loyd, who along with Breanna Stewart is fueling the Storm's rebuilding plan.

Loyd is producing 26 points per game.

The league's most prolific scorers meet Sunday in Seattle when the Storm (1-1) host the Mystics (1-1).

After a season-opening home win over San Antonio, Washington headed West for a Friday matchup against defending WNBA champion Los Angeles. Delle Donne led the Mystics in scoring both times, including 27 against the Sparks, but the outcome was different against Los Angeles.

Washington trailed by 12 points after the first quarter and never recovered, falling 99-89.

"They did most of their damage in the first quarter," Mystics coach Mike Thibault said of the Sparks, who led 34-22 after one quarter and 59-48 at halftime despite 15 points from Delle Donne.

"End of the first, their traps turned us over a couple of times. (We) took a couple of bad shots, sped us up a little bit," Thibault said. "We knew we were going to get that kind of pressure coming here."

There was some pressure on Delle Donne upon joining Washington via a trade with the Chicago Sky in the league's biggest transaction of the offseason.

The Mystics, coming off a 13-21 season, have posted a winning record only once since 2010. Now they are considered a title contender thanks to the additions of Delle Donne and Kristi Toliver to go with holdovers Emma Meesseman and Tayler Hill.

Delle Donne is averaging 25.5 points through two games. Though her trademark 3-point touch hasn't arrived yet (1 of 6), she is shooting 64 percent (16 of 25) from the field and has made 18 of 19 free throws.

Loyd is thriving from deep. The second-year player sank 3 of 4 3-point tries and scored 27 points in Seattle's 87-82 win over Indiana on May 14. She scored 25 points and made two 3-pointers the previous day during a 78-68 loss at Los Angeles.

Stewart scored 15 points against the Fever and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer for a 79-77 lead with 1:40 remaining.

"You saw a team that's developed toughness and is figuring out how to make plays on both ends of the floor," Seattle coach Jenny Boucek told the Storm's website. "I didn't think we played great. We didn't have a lot of gas in the tank because we used a lot of it (at Los Angeles), but they showed a lot of toughness to figure out a way to win when they weren't feeling their best, which is huge for us."

Crystal Langhorne, who began her career with Washington, scored 17 points for Seattle on 7-of-8 shooting against Indiana.

The Mystics went 1-2 against the Storm last season, but their win came in Seattle.

Meesseman, who leads the Mystics with an average of five assists per game, scored 19 points in Washington's 84-82 victory over Seattle last May 26. Loyd had 26 points in the other game in Seattle as the Storm dominated 80-51 on July 15.

NEW YORK (AP) Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi has been suspended one game without pay for hitting San Antonio Stars forward Dearica Hamby in the back of the head with a forearm.

The WNBA said Sunday she will serve her suspension Tuesday, when the Mercury hosts the New York Liberty.

Taurasi was assessed a technical foul with 4:09 remaining in the second quarter of the Mercury's 78-72 victory Friday. The league reviewed the play, and rescinded the technical but upgraded the play to a flagrant foul 2.

Remember the 3 G's Gambling, Golf, Girls not in any particular order.....

-- Favorites went 13-3 straight up (SU)
-- Underdogs went 10-6 against the spread (ATS)
-- Home teams posted a 9-7 SU record
-- Road teams posted a 10-6 ATS record
-- The 'under' went 10-6

Team Betting Notes

-- Atlanta (2-1) kicked off its season with a pair of road wins and covers, posting its first 2-0 start since the 2014 season. The second victory came at the expense of Chicago (1-2), who began life after Elena Della Donne, who was traded in the offseason. However, it was the Sky winning the second end of the home-and-home in Atlanta, winning 75-71 as 6 1/2-point underdogs to fire out to a 2-1 ATS start.

-- Washington (1-2) suffered a 10-point setback at Seattle (2-1) on Sunday, as the Mystics dropped to 0-3 ATS to kick off their campaign. The 81-71 loss was also the first 'under' result for Washington after a pair of 'over' finishes. The cover Sunday for the Storm was its first of the season in three tries.

-- New York (1-1) split their first two games. They topped San Antonio (0-3) to fire out of the chute with a win, but the Liberty failed to cover in either of the outings, including a 90-71 blasting from Minnesota (3-0) at home. The Liberty should be well rested with five days between that outing against the Lynx and a trip to face Phoenix (2-1) on Tuesday.

-- The Stars might be winless in three tries, but they have been keeping it close. They're 3-0 ATS to start the season, covering all three games as double-digit underdogs.

-- The Lynx will play host to Connecticut (0-2) on Tuesday, and their modest two-game 'over' streak will be put to the test. The 'under' is 2-0 for the Sun so far out of the box.

-- The 'under' is a perfect 3-0 for the Mercury through three outings, but they're just 1-2 ATS during the early going.

-- Indiana (1-2) has failed to cover each of the past two while the 'under' has cashed in each outing.

-- Dallas (1-1) split their first two outings of the season, topping the Mercury as eight-point underdogs in the desert on May 14. They also played the Lynx tough, dropping an 89-87 decision on Saturday as 10 1/2-point underdogs. As such, the Wings are an impressive 2-0 ATS to start.

-- Last, but certainly not least, the defending champion Los Angeles (2-0) have won and covered their first two games at home, winning by an average of 10.0 points per game. They'll hit the road for the first time, kicking off a three-game sojourn against the Fever on Wednesday.

Remember the 3 G's Gambling, Golf, Girls not in any particular order.....

13) Apparently there are severe political problems in Venezuela which are stressing out lot of the Venezuelan ballplayers playing in the major leagues here.

Chip Caray said on the Braves game last night there are over 90 players/coaches from Venezuela in professional baseball right now. If a ballplayer here speaks out against what is going on there, it can have severe repercussions for his family back home. Not a good situation.

12) So far, 631 college basketball players have announced the intent to transfer; 271 of them haven’t said where they’re going yet. Thats just about two transfers per Division I team.

11) According to people in Las Vegas who know about such things, when Celtics (+16) won Game 3 in Cleveland Sunday, it was the third biggest upset in ANY NBA game in the last 22 years, coming after a Nuggets (+17) upset of Washington in ’97 and the Lakers’ (+17) upset of Golden State last fall.

10) Gonzaga/Creighton signed to play a home/home series; sounds a made-for-TV deal, which is good for us, the viewing public. Good for Gonzaga’s strength of schedule, too. Creighton plays in the Big East, so their SOS doesn’t need the help.

9) No baseball team has ever started 12-24 or worse and rallied to make the playoffs.

8) Last fall, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones gave around 200 policemen in North Little Rock game tickets and transportation to Cowboys’ games in Dallas, as a way of thanking them for their service. Now all that has been ruled an ethics violation, for the cops accepting the gifts. Jones refused reimbursement; seems to me that all this lacks some common sense, but thats just me.

7) Monday was former major league pitcher Tommy John’s 74th birthday; the crafty lefty pitched 2,544 innings AFTER the revolutionary elbow surgery in 1963, that now bears his name.

6) Atlanta Hawks’ Paul Millsap is voiding the last year for his $21.4M contract and will become a free agent this summer. Millsap is 32 but still a highly productive player.

5) Braves 5, Pirates 2— Ender Inciarte had five hits for the Braves, first Atlanta player to do that since Jason Hayward four years ago.

Newly acquired Matt Adams homered for the Braves, making him the first person to homer for two different teams in brand new SunTrust Park— he homered for St Louis there earlier this season.

4) We talked a few days ago about Arizona’s Chris Iannetta getting hit by a pitch in the face, breaking his nose and a couple of teeth. Iannetta came off the 7-day DL Sunday and hit a homer in his first at-bat back, which can’t be an easy thing to do.

3) Warriors 129, Spurs 115— Took Kevin Durant’s advice and watched baseball instead. Golden State now awaits the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, assuming Cleveland can put away an underdog Celtics team playing without its best player, Isaiah Thomas.

This was the last NBA game for Manu Ginobili, who had a great, great career.

2) Two drivers who will compete in the Indianapolis 500 this weekend were robbed at gunpoint of a drive-thru window at a Taco Bell in Indianapolis Sunday night. The crime was perpetrated by two kids, a 14 and 15-year old, at 9:40 pm. I have no idea what else to say about this.

1) Nashville 6, Anaheim 3— Predators are in the Stanley Cup final for the first time ever.

Remember the 3 G's Gambling, Golf, Girls not in any particular order.....

8:00 PMCONNECTICUT vs. MINNESOTA
Connecticut is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Minnesota
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Connecticut's last 5 games when playing Minnesota
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Minnesota's last 6 games
Minnesota is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games

10:00 PMNEW YORK vs. PHOENIX
New York is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Phoenix
The total has gone OVER in 4 of New York's last 5 games when playing Phoenix
Phoenix is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing New York
Phoenix is 4-9 ATS in its last 13 games when playing New York

Remember the 3 G's Gambling, Golf, Girls not in any particular order.....

Three games into the WNBA season, the Minnesota Lynx are in a familiar position atop the Western Conference standings.

Minnesota (3-0), which has won 20 straight games during the month of May, returns home after two road games to face the Connecticut Sun (0-2) on Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

It's the first of back-to-back matchups for the teams (they meet Friday in Connecticut) this week.

The Sun squandered an 11-point lead in the second half on Saturday in an 81-79 loss to the Indiana Fever in Indianapolis. But the Lynx aren't taking their opponent lightly.

"They are a real challenge to guard," Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve told WNBA.com. "This is a team that is first in second-chance points. ... They just get you twisted. They do a great job in their pick-and-roll options. They know if you cover it a certain way, do this. It's a part of their identity and we are going to be challenged."

The Sun, who were 14-20 in 2016, took two of three last year from the Lynx, who finished a league-best 28-6.

"I know they beat us twice last year," Minnesota guard Lindsay Whalen told the website. "They play really well, they play really quick. They beat us both times out there last year, so we have to come ready to go.

"We know they have a lot of really talented players. ... We'll tip it up tomorrow and we'll play hard."

Minnesota is coming off an 89-87 win over the Dallas Wings on Saturday night.

Center Sylvia Fowles, who followed her 26-point, 10-rebound performance on opening night with 27 points on Saturday, was named WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week.

"I was glad we won, it's obviously what you want going into it," Whalen said after Monday's practice. "We are going to take a look at some things, we have some stuff we can work on, so we'll just continue to work on those things and try to get better as a group.

"Overall for a two-game road trip early in the year, it felt good to get both wins."

Minnesota also beat the Liberty 90-71 last week in New York.

"The New York game was a good game. We shared the ball, we made simple plays, we defended. That was our best game out of the three," Reeve said. "We aren't happy with where we are. We are happy with talking about this, having won three games and sitting here with three wins.

"To get where we are trying to go and to be a great team, we are far from that. We need to close that gap in a hurry."

Sun guard Alex Bentley took some of the blame for Connecticut's narrow loss in Indiana.

"Late in the fourth quarter, we didn't go back to what was working -- going inside," Bentley told The Indianapolis Star after the game. "Our post players should have gotten the ball a lot more, and I put that on myself."